Tumbling Tom

Pests & beneficial insects

🐛 Prone to: Aphids

Aphids

Aphididae

Curled leaves, sticky honeydew and ants on patrol — usually with something already eating them.

, Whitefly

Whitefly

Aleyrodidae

A puff of white when you brush the leaf, and stickiness underneath.

, Cutworms

Cutworms

Noctuidae

A seedling lying beside its own stump in the morning, cut clean through at soil level.

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Attract Hoverflies

Hoverflies

Syrphidae

The adults only drink nectar. It is the larvae that eat the aphids.

, Lacewings

Lacewings

Chrysopidae

Golden-eyed adults that mostly drink; larvae that hunt like small alligators.

, Ladybugs

Ladybugs

Coccinellidae

The one predator here where the adults hunt as hard as the larvae do.

, Parasitic wasps

Parasitic wasps

Braconidae, Ichneumonidae and relatives

Pinhead-sized, stingless, and lethal to aphids and caterpillars from the inside.

, Ground beetles

Ground beetles

Carabidae

Night-active ground hunters, taking slugs, cutworms and leatherjackets at soil level.

to keep them in check — plant African MarigoldGreat, French MarigoldGreat and BuglossGood nearby.

Growing from seed

Start Tumbling Tom indoors about 8 weeks before your last frost, keeping seeds in warm soil (around 20–25 °C). Seeds usually come up in around 7 days. Move seedlings out once the danger of frost has passed, in full sun, spaced about 45 cm apart. Expect to harvest in roughly 70 days.

Tumbling Tom seed rarely stays viable beyond 4 years — track what's still worth sowing.

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  Growing Tomatoes: From First Sowing to the Last Ripe Fruit

  Tomatoes are the crop most gardeners fall for first — and the one that most rewards getting the timing right. This is the whole arc: sowing, planting out, the one pruning decision that actually matters, keeping them fed and even, and coaxing the last fruit to colour before the cold.

  Read the guide

Companion Planting

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  Buchii Lavender
  

  Buchii LavenderGreat pair

  • ❧Buchii Lavender attracts Hoverflies and Parasitic wasps, which prey on the Aphids and Whitefly that attack Tumbling Tom
  • ❧Tumbling Tom draws Bumblebees that improve pollination for both
  • ❧Tumbling Tom acts as living mulch, keeping soil moist and weeds down around Buchii Lavender
• 
  round leaf lavender
  

  round leaf lavenderGreat pair

  • ❧round leaf lavender attracts Hoverflies and Parasitic wasps, which prey on the Aphids and Whitefly that attack Tumbling Tom
  • ❧Tumbling Tom draws Bumblebees that improve pollination for both
  • ❧Tumbling Tom acts as living mulch, keeping soil moist and weeds down around round leaf lavender
• 
  Spanish lavender
  

  Spanish lavenderGreat pair

  • ❧Spanish lavender attracts Hoverflies and Parasitic wasps, which prey on the Aphids and Whitefly that attack Tumbling Tom
  • ❧Tumbling Tom draws Bumblebees that improve pollination for both
  • ❧Tumbling Tom acts as living mulch, keeping soil moist and weeds down around Spanish lavender

How to grow Tumbling Tom

1. Sow8 weeks before frost
2. Germinates7 days
3. Space45 cm apart
4. GrowFull sun
5. Harvest~70 days

Water: Medium · Height: 30 cm · Soil: Rich, well-draining, slightly acidic (pH 6.0–6.8)